This is the story of a dragon
with poison in his heart
And it's the story of the race that discovered him
worshipped his Magnificence but ultimately perished by his side.
Dragons have always been intriguing to humanity, with many believing they hold the secrets to life itself.
One who believed this was Vendrick, king of Drangleic and his brother Aldia.
Together they experimented on dragons in the hopes that they could learn more about their existence.
Eventually, they were successful, recreating an ancient dragon with the ability to peer into the past
to view the stories of old so that they might learn from them.
This is one such story.
In the Ancient Dragon's Eerie, before the chamber with the dragons egg
is a mural that depicts and ancient civilisation who existed long ago, deep below the deepest depths.
Legend has it that deep below the earth behind a door locked from the inside is a magnificent city built for a
built for a great slumbering dragon.
In a bygone age the king in the depths built his city around this beast
this subterranean world centered around the great sanctum that housed the dragon in its depths
and was aptly named Shulva, the Sanctum city.
This was a religious city where sorceries were considered taboo but miracles flourished
as the people there were grounded in their faith.
The people prayed and worshipped and the priestesses sang to soothe the dragon in its slumber.
One wonders whether a single phrase of their song ever reached the dragon's ears
but to people of faith such questions matter not.
As is common "the King had a dear Queen" and the Queen sang to the dragon also.
At this point in our story you should know that the dragon has a tragic secret
deep within him, Sinh harbours a dreadful store of poison and there will come a time where he cannot bear
any longer.
Looking back it's impossible to know whether the people knew of the poison
or even if the dragon himself knew.
Perhaps the people of the city prayed, sang and soothed out of fear
fear that the waking of the dragon would lead to their demise
if so, this could only serve to strengthen thier faith
for fear is the heart of reverence and the people revered their magnificent sleeping beast
the centre of their faith.
It should come as no surprise to you that men would come to covet the dragon.
To the Drakeblood Knights fresh dragon blood was sacrosanct.
They believed that by obtaining it they could come to a true understanding of life
allowing them to transcend their own pointless existence.
In a world where strength of purpose keeps one from hollowing a belief like this isn't so strange.
Lead by sir Yorgh and his famous spear, the drakeblood knights lay siege to Shulva.
The king of Shulva called his Sanctum knights to arm
many of whom renounced their own flesh to eternally guard the sanctum from the assault of Sir Yhorg
and his Drakeblood Knights.
They were sentenced to eternal stewardship yet soon the day would come
where the sanctum received nary a visitor.
During the conflict the dragon slept lulled by the queen's song.
You have to wonder who sent Sir Yhorg and his Drakeblood Knights
so look now upon the crest of Sir Yhorg and see the truth of things.
This is the crest of Drangleic.
Sir Yhorg, leader of the Drakeblood Knights and possibly of Vendrick's kingdom.
Cuts down the soldiers of the sanctum and kills the king in the depths
he then faces the Slumbering Dragon
With visions of Dragon Blood and Omniscience, Sir Yhorg pierces the Dragon with a flash of his steel
piercing Sinh through the chest
and as you can imagine it wasn't what he was expecting.
Sinh immediately awakens and from his wounds spews forth the deadly poison
that had long been brewing within him.
It blankets the entire city in a miasmic cloud, restoring the Dragon's purity but toppling the city
Sir Yhorg and his Drakeblood Knights disappeared into the sanctum
And nothing more was heard of the race that discovered a dragon
and worshipped its magnificence.
Until now.
There have been many kings and kingdoms
Hierarchies that rose and fell, leaving ruined kingdoms behind
We visit the memories of Vendrick, king of his own unraveled kingdom
"I am no king"
"I am more fit to be a jester..."
"I was unaware of my own blindness"
"We are feeble vessels, with feebler souls"
"we would cast aside the prop of life''
"only to face greater hardship"
"are you another such fool?"
"or something more?"
"seeker of fire, conqueror of dark"
"Do you intend to link the fire?"
"then you must first take the throne."
"Prove your worth"
"Find the ancient crowns"
"Seek adversity and they will be yours"
"and your wishes"
"Granted."
Somewhere within the sanctum is the crown of the sunken king.
The crown of a king who came before Vendrick.
The crown of a king who is killed by Sir Yhorg on the day that the dragon awoke
We explore the ruined sanctum and we uncover the truths that it holds.
The soldiers in the sanctum are now undead, coated with the corrosive poison of the dragon
but still carrying out their orders to defend the Sanctum from outsiders.
Throughout the Sanctum we find open chests which are a tribute to the grave robbers and thieves
who have flocked to this place.
Sinh the Sleeping Dragon now roams his domain, sleeping lightly where he pleases.
He even clears a bridge for us at one point, killing the two soldiers that block our path
Dragons, in all the lore, have always kept to themselves.
They either think themselves above man or do not care for his conflicts.
You have to wonder about Sinh, did he harbour malicious intent?
He had poison in his heart but when he was pierced by Yhorgs spear, the poison gushed out and restored
his purity.
This implies he was pure before, which suggests that the poison was placed within him,
But by whom?
We find an answer in the sanctum
right before Sinh.
*Eerie singing*
"You"
"forever, you shall Rot"
Elana, the Squalid Queen
Once again sings to Sinh the Slumbering Dragon
After the kingdom is ruined by Sinh's awakening she remains, alone.
I believe Elana sang the song of poison into the Dragon's heart
and was at least partly responsible for the fall of the Sunken King.
Just like her sister Nashandra was responsible for the fall of Drangleic.
Nothing explicitly confirms Elana's intentions
except the pattern that repeats itself.
We are discovering that all great kings have queens that lay in wait
waiting for the right moment to strike
and it's easy to believe that the queen of the sanctum city was partly responsible for its fall.
Elana defends her sunken kingdom with a mixture of fire, dark and, most notably, poison and filth
her essence is that of filth and neglect she even summons a depraved replica of the king's hand,
Velstadt
completing the image of a queen devoted to making a mire of the world.
After we conquer Elana, we learn who she was from her soul
"Seeker of fire"
"I see you've subdued another foul creature"
"One of the father of the Abyss' Spawn"
"That... confounded quintessence of humanity"
"The Abyss once had form"
"But then Dissipated"
"and yet"
"traces of its existence endured"
"Each fragment thirsting for power spread dark with no relent"
"My dear Shandra was one such fragment"
"A feeble, tiny thing that thirsted for power more than any other"
"Driven by insatiable lust... for a worhty vessel."
All queens thus far are the children of the sentient Abyss that existed long ago.
They are the pieces that regained form in ways that hinted humanities true nature.
They seek to be whole once again.
Elana, the queen of the Sanctum King, is a child of Wrath
She is gathering souls and power from the Slumbering Dragon
in anticipation of the coming day of vengence.
Her sister, Nashandra, the queen of Drangleic is a child of Want
The kings dear Shandra seeks the throne and the power to reshape the world that comes with it
for this she needs a vessel.
Nashandra guards the Throne, Elana guards a crown.
I'm sure a third sister lies in the remains of the Old Iron King's kingdom
and we've yet to see her.
It appears that the sisters are keeping the crowns and the throne warm.
Waiting for some day of reckoning where they avenge their father.
Every king of light has had a fragment of Manus undoing their efforts from the start.
Like Vendrick says the 'brighter the flame the deeper their shadow'.
Sinh's death was a result of our desire for the Crown of The Sunken King
for it is now our job to gather the crowns and link the fire.
We aim to be a Lord of Light that the previous kings won't
and we will succeed in this.
But what if... we have a queen of our own?
Emerald Herald:
"Bearer of the Curse, I will always be at your side"
"Until hope has fully withered."
End